Find the top rated horseback riding trails in West Virginia, whether you're looking for an easy short horseback riding trail or a long horseback riding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a horseback riding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I have been walking and biking sections of the North Bend Rail Trail since at least 2013- over 10+ years as of this review (May 2023). I am very impressed at all of the improvements. Today I walked from the historic Salem Depot around mile marker 65 to the Tunnel around mile marker 68. Salem had paved their trail within city limits. It is smooth and wonderful! Past Salem, heading towards Wolf Summit, the current Eastern end of the trail, it is gravel. Bring a light for the tunnel!
How can I find out which parts of the trail are paved and what parts are crushed stone? I would like to take my road bike and avoid the crushed stone as much as possible. Not sure where it is best to start. Thank you.
This trail is a gem! This trail will be a very important connecting piece between the North Bend Rail Trail that runs from Parkersburg to Clarksburg, WV and the Mon River Trail System in the Morgantown area. Someday, all of these wonderful trails will be connect as part of the planned Parkersburg to Pittsburgh Trail (P2P).
What a gem! The greater Morgantown area is so lucky to have this amazing trail system! It will be so nice when this trail is connected to the North Bend Rail Trail! This trail will be a major part of the 238 mile long Parkersburg to Pittsburgh Trail. I can’t wait until the trails from Clarksburg, Shinnston, Fairmont, and Morgantown are all connected!
What a gem! North Central West Virginia is lucky to have this trail system. I can’t wait until the 238 miles Parkersburg to Pittsburgh Trail is complete! It will be fantastic when all of the trails from the North Bend Trail to the trails in Clarksburg, Shinnston, Fairmont, and Morgantown are linked!
Five star trail! It connects to the Mon River Rail Train network from Fairmont, WV to Morgantown, WV and beyond.
This trail is a great, short trail! If you want a longer ride, you can continue on the Mon River Trail Network, which starts at Pricketts Fort State Park and continues to Morgantown, WV and beyond.
I parked at the west end riding a touring/gravel bike with panniers on 700x38s. This is really a trail best suited for horses, mountain bikes, and fat bikes. It starts out with nice farms and is very quiet, tree-lined with multiple stream crossings. very pretty and well maintained. The state park (first place for water east-bound) was a nice place to stay with showers, camp store, nice campsites. There is a beautiful shelter that overlooks a river/stream on the trail, at the east end of the tunnel that's immediately east of the SP. Somewhere east of there, and definitely at the Dodges /Ritchie county line, the trail has been a bit neglected. There is chunky rock with deep loose gravel piles, occasional double track, and at each road crossing gate it's a real challenge to pass through with panniers. Expect to walk the underpass for Dodges county park. It's super slippery with moss, mud, and grass, then the trail stops... with no further direction. I saw a HWY sign and headed down the road to a no-vehicles gravel road that looks like the trail. Yep, good choice. But then the sign sends you pushing up a steep, muddy, rocky 4wheel drive road. The arrows on the sign need to be adjusted, or place the sign better. Go left at the sign toward the river and it'll bring you into the campground, also across more loose gravel, deep asphalt piles, and mud. The campground is nothing fancy, but there is a shower.
Surprised to see this amazing trail that has great bed and breakfasts along it is not noted as part of the Great American Rail Trail. It sure would help demonstrate more GART completion if it was.
Nov 2022 --- Oh this is a fabulous trail! If you have ridden the GAP west from Cumberland, and ever wondered what it would be like to ride up to the Allegheny Mountains from the OTHER SIDE, this is the trail for you. The first 2-3 miles east from Morgantown are flat with nice, new asphalt. Then it becomes nice smooth crushed stone and the climb begins. There are wonderful views of Deckers Creek, with waterfalls and whatnot. Reedsville is more or less the endpoint, with a Dollar General and supermarket to get a drink or food. These are about a half mile off the trail, in town. It would be awesome if the Deckers Creek trail would eventually go all the way to Kingwood, like the old railroad line, but I know that these things take a lot of time, energy and $$$. For now, what is there is an awesome ride! Thank you to all the wonderful people who keep this trail so nice!
CAUTION! -- GRAVEL! -- In April 2023 I started from Wolf Summit and headed west on this trail, expecting crushed stone like the GAP or Mon System. This was not the case --- it is GRAVEL. I had 1.5-inch hybrid tires with a mild tread and I was getting bounced around like a carnival ride. I went about a mile and turned around and abandoned the idea of this trail. I went up I-79 a few miles and rode the Mon System instead, which is crushed stone, almost like asphalt. At least for the Wolf Summit area, you need a fat tire bike for the North Bend, or at least some really serious mountain bike tires. Maybe it will smooth out over the years, but for now this is the case.
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